Notice · Construction & Infrastructure
Security of payment: payment schedule with reasons for withholding (NSW, with Queensland and Victorian notes)
Payment schedule responding to a security of payment claim, stating the scheduled amount and every reason for withholding item by item, because reasons left out generally cannot be raised at adjudication.
- Kind
- Notice. A formal notice to serve or publish.
- Where it applies
- New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a respondent receives a payment claim under the NSW Act (or adapt for Queensland or Victoria) and intends to pay less than the claimed amount. Serve it within the contract period or the statutory period, whichever ends first.
How AI may be used
Lawyer-led. AI may map each claimed item to the contract, site records and assessments, but reasons not included in the schedule may be shut out at adjudication, so the lawyer settles every reason.
AI may
- Build the item-by-item table comparing claimed and assessed amounts, with document references.
- Collect candidate reasons from the superintendent's assessment, defects reports and correspondence for the lawyer to review.
- Check that every claimed item has a response line and a reason where the amount is reduced.
AI must not
- Must not decide which reasons to include or omit.
- Must not calculate liquidated damages or set-offs as final figures without lawyer review of the contract.
- Must not serve the schedule or calculate the final deadline without lawyer confirmation.
The lawyer checks
- Every reason the respondent may want to rely on at adjudication is stated in the schedule.
- Each reason is specific enough for the claimant to understand it.
- The schedule is served before the earlier of the contract period and the statutory period.
- Set-off, liquidated damages and contra-charges are permitted by the contract and quantified.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Construction & Infrastructure
- Security of payment: payment claim (NSW base, with Victorian, Queensland, NZ and UK variants)
- Queensland adjudication application (QBCC approved form): preparation guide
- Notice of delay and claim for extension of time under a construction contract
- Contract clause: AI-generated design, BIM data and practitioner responsibility
- Protocol for AI use in expert delay and quantum analysis (construction disputes)
All precedents for Construction & Infrastructure · Tasks and AI use in this area